Science and theater arrive to four regions of country through the play SCIENCE/fiction

September 24, 2010

The Theater of the Catholic University (TEUC), the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and (CEDENNA) of USACH, the Millennium Nucleus on Basic and Applied Magnetism and the EXPLORA Program of CONICYT joined forces to awaken the interest of young people in science and the environment through the play SCIENCE/fiction. The production, which toured the cities of Talca, Concepción, Temuco and Valparaíso, seeks to promote an authentic scientific and technological culture among students.

After a successful season in Santiago, the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CEDENNA), the Millennium Nucleus on Basic and Applied Magnetism and the Theater of the Catholic University took the play SCIENCE/fiction to four regions of the country.

The production, which seeks to awaken the interest of youth and adolescents in science and the environment through an entertaining theatrical work that brings together theater, music and science, toured the cities of Talca, Concepción, Temuco and Valparaíso during the months of October and November 2010.

SCIENCE/fiction deals with an environmental conflict provoked by the powerful company A-Zero, which tries to put a controversial invention into practice to clean the air at the cost of the ecosystem. A physics teacher, who lives in seclusion from the world, and a group of young students join forces to resolve the problem, but not before going through a series of adventures that mix science with fiction.

“This work is committed to promoting an authentic scientific and technological culture among our students”, stated the director of CEDENNA, Dora Altbir. “We toured the play in the cities of Talca, Concepción, Temuco y Valparaíso and we hope to continue visiting other regions of the country next year because we are convinced that appreciation of the value of scientific research in our society contributes both to the formation of future scientists and the creation of better citizens, more aware of the challenges that confront the society,” added the researcher, who also directs the Millennium Nucleus of USACH.

“The premise of the theater project emerged from the desire of the professor and physicist Eugenio Vogel (member of the Millennium Nucleus and CEDENNA of USACH) to bring science and theater together”, stated the playwrights Coca Duarte and Cristián Ruiz. The challenge for the authors was to include certain experiments governed by different physical principals in a dramatic script. The result, a theatrical script that presents the theme of the environment as the central idea.

Directed by Elvira López Alfonso and set to the rhythm and music of the composer Pablo Ilabaca (“31 minutos”, “Chancho en Piedra”), SCIENCE/fiction seeks to bring us closer to science and marvel at its manifestations.

“Because of its character as a university theater since 1943, the Theater of the Catholic University seeks to open its programming to regional circuits with the aim of strengthening its vocation of service within the framework of its Outreach Program and its project Formation of Publics”, stressed the Director of the Catholic University Theater, Inés Stranger.